Chapter 6 - The Deposition
The deposition took place in a sterile conference room on the 40th floor of a downtown skyscraper.
Trevor sat across from me, flanked by three corporate lawyers who looked like sharks in expensive suits. He wouldn't look me in the eye, choosing instead to stare at his gold watch. Judith was absent, out on bail but confined to her mansion with an ankle monitor.
"Let’s make this simple, Annalise," Trevor’s lead attorney, a man named Henderson, said as he pushed a document across the table. "This is the signed post-nuptial agreement. Our client is prepared to offer you a modest monthly stipend and a small apartment, provided you relinquish full legal custody to Mr. Vance and sign a non-disclosure agreement regarding the events of Christmas night."
Elena didn't even touch the document. She leaned back in her chair and smiled. "Mr. Henderson, that document is a fraudulent piece of fiction, and your client knows it."
"We have a signature analysis—" Henderson began.
"And we have an email," Elena interrupted, pulling a printed document from her briefcase and sliding it across the table.
Trevor took one look at the paper, and the color instantly drained from his face. He reached out, his hand trembling, as he read the email his mother had sent him detailing the forgery.
"Where... where did you get this?" Trevor stammered, looking at me with a mixture of terror and realization.
"Your son is a genius, Trevor," I said, leaning forward. "He saved everything your mother thought she could hide. Not only do we have this email, but we have the original Photoshop files from your mother’s designer, which we recovered from her cloud backup. We also have the offshore financial logs showing how your family has been dodging taxes for the past decade."
Henderson looked at Trevor, his professional composure cracking. "Mr. Vance, is this authentic?"
Trevor couldn't speak. He just stared at the proof of his own undoing.
"Here is our counter-offer," Elena said, her voice cutting through the panic like a scalpel. "Full sole legal and physical custody of Colton and Penny to my client. No visitation for Trevor until a court-appointed psychologist deems he is no longer a psychological threat to the children. A full liquidation of Trevor’s share of the family trust to be placed in an untouchable fund for the children’s education and upbringing. And finally, you will sign a full confession regarding the forgery, which we will hold over your head should you ever attempt to breach this agreement."
"That’s financial ruin!" Henderson protested. "That’s everything he owns!"
"Then he can face the federal charges for forgery, wire fraud, and conspiracy," Elena replied coldly. "Not to mention the public fallout when the media gets hold of the fact that a prominent attorney helped his mother abuse his own daughter."
Trevor buried his face in his hands. The silence in the room was exactly like the silence at the dinner table on Christmas night, but this time, he was the one trapped in the storm.
May you like
"I’ll sign," Trevor whispered into his hands. "Just don't let the kids see me go to jail."
"They don't want to see you at all, Trevor," I said quietly, standing up. "They’re finally safe."
